Chapter 456 - The Mysterious Farmhouse
Chapter 456 The Mysterious Farmhouse
Just when she was reminiscing about her past, the horse carriage suddenly stopped.
Hongyu quickly wiped away her tears and lifted the curtain of the horse carriage with her slender, white hand.
“What’s happened?”
The moment she looked out, she spotted roughly seven to eight men blocking their way and they were wielding steel knives.
“Madam… this…”
Old Man Tian could feel fear rising in him. The sight of the steel knives in their hands showed they were not some regular law-abiding people.
What was worse was that they were still some distance away from the next village and there was also no shophouses around. It was obvious that these men had come for them.
Old Man Tian swallowed hard. Suddenly, he remembered the words spoken by that lady who appeared to be an immortal.
Oh yes, she had told him to flee straight away if someone tried to carjack them.
He tried hard to work some strength into his legs which had turned to jelly. He got up and started running in the direction where they came from while the burly men looked on.
However, the burly men did not have any reaction when they saw Old Man Tian fleeing.
Hongyu’s chest tightened. She did not expect to meet with bandits here.
“Young lady, be smart and get down from the carriage and follow us. If you refuse to be smart, don’t blame us for being harsh!”
One of the burly men strode forward and shouted.
Immediately, all eyes were on Hongyu.
She might be feeble because she was a woman, but she was one who had seen the world.
She perked up, held on tightly to her bundle, and put on a calm front.
“It must have been tiring for you, brothers, but I’m merely a common womenfolk. I’m truly ignorant of what I’ve done to offend you. Here, I’ve some pieces of silver. You may buy drinks for yourselves with them.”
Hongyu took out ten taels of silver from her bundle and tossed them to the burly men. However, while they kept the silver, they did not intend to let Hongyu off.
“Oh, what an attractive woman. I thought this was going to be a tough job, but I’m surprised that it’s actually a fat job. Alright, offer us what you have. Be good to us and we’ll spare your life if you make us happy.”
At the man’s frivolous words, the rest of the men burst out laughing.
Hongyu bit her lips. She had turned over a new leaf and would not allow herself to be humiliated by these men.
Holding on tightly to the reins with her petite hands, she had decided that she would go all out instead of perishing with them.
“Go!”
Hongyu tugged at the rein and the horse started galloping away.
The burly men seemed to have expected this. They retreated to the sides immediately. However, they had obviously made an ambush and set up a cheval-de-frise earlier on to trip the horse.
Just as they expected, Hongyu was throw off the carriage when the horse tripped and the horse carriage fell sideways.
At a loud sound, the horse carriage flipped over. Hongyu was thrown into the air and subsequently fell onto the ground.
In that instant, she felt excruciating pain shot up from inside her as if all her organs were out of place. Darkness fell upon her and Hongyu fainted.
“Shall we act now?” Zuo Qiuyu whispered, peeking from his hiding place.
Lin Mengya shook her head. The men she sent out in the afternoon to follow Sumei secretly had obviously failed in their mission.
They had merely given the report that she had gone into some courtyard and had not appeared after that.
No one had seen how Sumei had eventually left that courtyard and secretly returned to Prince Shen’s Mansion.
Lin Mengya supposed that there must have been some secret passage, but her men had not acted lest they alarm their enemy.
Moreover, Hongyu was definitely their next target.
To play safe, together with Long Tianyu, Zuo Qiuyu and some men, Lin Mengya had personally followed behind Hongyu’s horse carriage.
As they expected, someone indeed abducted Hongyu.
Those men did not kill Hongyu straight away. They merely carried the unconscious Hongyu and her bundle and fled in another direction.
“Let’s follow them and be careful to stay hidden,” Long Tianyu said with a low voice.
Thereafter, their dark shadows hurried on as they trailed after those men.
After making sure that those men had left, Lin Mengya and her company emerged from the bushes slowly.
“Cousin Yu, are your men ready?”
Zuo Qiuyu nodded. He had gotten his men ready early. In fact, he was so excited when he first learned that he would ambush those bad guys and take them down.
However, he still did not understand why Lin Mengya had chosen to wipe them out at one shot instead of adopting a long-term plan to round up the whole gang at one fell swoop.
Lin Mengya’s explanation was that it was easier to make a profit in troubled situation.
“Let’s follow them.”
As the most robust bodyguard today, Long Tianyu would naturally stay by Lin Mengya’s side all the time.
Even when they mounted the horse, he had carried her up the horse first. He made sure she was alright before mounting the horse himself, and then sat behind her.
Zuo Qiuyu looked at the perfect couple with envy.
He was not very happy that his family’s beautiful woman had been given to an unworthy foreigner as wife.
It was just too bad. On the other hand, Zuo Qiuyu had known Lin Mengya’s personality very well by now. Being envious was about the only thing he could do.
The sun was setting slowly in the west and night had fallen.
Long Tianyu and Lin Mengya shuttled back and forth the woods on horseback.
Lin Mengya did not know what indications the men ahead had left behind, but Long Tianyu seemed to know the direction all along. He did not seem to hesitate as they moved forward.
Leaning into Long Tianyu’s arms, Lin Mengya seemed to be deep in thoughts.
Finally, the galloping horse seemed to slow down.
By this time, they had emerged from the woods and stopped at the entrance of a village.
“Let’s get down from the horse. They’ve entered the village.”
Long Tianyu whispered into Lin Mengya’s ear and then carried her down from the horse in his arms.
As Lin Mengya observed the village which was gradually consumed by darkness, a strange feeling rose in her heart.
She had thought that those burly men would have found a more secluded or hidden place.
Little did she expect that they simply entered the village openly.
Could everyone in this village be working for them as well?
However, she quickly repudiated this conclusion.
Not to mention that this village was not far from Wangtian City. If this village had already existed at the time they moved the capital city, Zuo Qiuchen would have completely annihilated this village given his character.
The only explanation for the current situation would be that these people had only settled at this place temporarily.
Because of Sumei’s stupidity, the evil mastermind behind this had to change his initial plans.
However, this was not to say that there was no way of salvaging the situation. As a result, they captured Hongyu.
“Let’s get in there to have a look. Cousin Yu, please get your men ready to receive instructions. Let’s break them up so they can sneak into the village.”
Lin Mengya, who was thinking hard just a moment ago, casually instructed.
Long Tianyu and Zuo Qiuyu, however, were a little surprised.
The two of them knew very well that she was a very cautious and meticulous person.
However, she sounded like a little commander giving her orders in a dignified manner.
It was no wonder that people made the comment that the Lin Family was a family of army generals and commanders. It was indeed so!
“Alright.”
Without further ado, Zuo Qiuyu turned his horse around and went back to give instructions to his men.
After Long Tianyu and Lin Mengya exchanged a knowing look, they made use of the darkness as their best camouflage and sneaked into the village.
Inside the village, it was very quiet. Most of the windows of houses were shut and the houses were all dimly lit from the inside.
Most farmers would wake up early to start working and rest for the day once the sun set.
Tiptoeing, the two of them weaved through the farmhouses, making sure they did not alarm anyone. Following the marks left by their men, they soon reached the other end of the village.
Compared to the farmhouses they saw earlier, these last ones looked more tattered on the roofs.
However, the walls surrounding them were obviously being rebuilt recently and because of how they were built without any gaps in between, it was difficult to see through them into the courtyard.
“Are your men very sure that those burly men had brought Hongyu into this courtyard?”
Long Tianyu nodded. He could tell that his men were ambushed all around this courtyard.
Lin Mengya looked into the courtyard. Although all was quiet, she could tell that it was filled with filth.
Hongyu had regained consciousness. Before she could open her eyes, she had clearly felt her entire body aching.
By the time she finally opened her eyes, she found herself in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.
Although the place was dimly lit, she could clearly see the unfamiliar farming tools hanging on the walls.
She was after all a farmer’s daughter. She would not have mistaken this place as a farmhouse.
All of sudden, a shot up at her chin. A pair of big, strong hands grabbed at her chin and forced her head to turn to look at her attacker.
A strange and wild face came into sight.
She tried to break free from his hold but immediately realized that she had been bound securely.
She was overcome with fear, but at the same time, there was an anxiety of the unknown that gripped her.
Who was this person? Where was this place that they brought her?
“Inspector, the woman has woken up. You can start questioning her.”
The burly man released his grip on Hongyu’s chin, turned to the inspector and spoke with a respectful tone.
“Okay, you may step aside.”
A hoarse voice sounded from behind the burly man.
Thereafter, a figure clad in black from top to bottom came to sight.
The person was not exactly tall, but being wrapped up in a thick black coat, even the facial features of the person were covered up.
Hongyu could not tell from the voice whether the person was a man or woman. However, the person was giving her the creeps like it was the venom of a venomous snake.
“So you are Hongyu? Given that you’re of such a lowly status, you’re lucky to be the receiver of my master’s good graces.”
Although she could not tell if this person was a man or a woman, his or her arrogant tone made Hongyu cower.
Master? Hongyu could sense that this person in black was not simple.
Given her rich life experience, she quickly realized the reality she was facing at the moment.
She did not start scolding, nor did she break down in tears. She simply lowered her gaze and put on a subdued look.
“You’ve done the right thing. You’re a smart person, so I’m sure you know that it doesn’t help to resist us. Rest assured that I won’t hurt you. I only need you to do one thing for me.”